Mike Casey's Blog

As you may or not know, Mike Casey has been rocking a Sleep Number bed and now he's checking in with Sleep Expert, Pete Bils. Find out what tips and tricks Pete Bils has to offer. Listen to the interview below.

And after a tragedy like this the only sensible response is to say that any and every available reasonable suggestion should be worth serious discussion and consideration. Because we simply CAN’T allow these senseless acts of violence and murder to continue.

But none of these ideas, individually or collectively are a magic wand that will fix everything that is wrong in one fell swoop.

What’s behind the seeming increase in violence in our society?

Or more directly: Where along the way did we lose touch with each other?

When did we forget that we must act as our brother’s keeper?

Why did we forget that our single greatest obligation is to love one another as we have been loved?

Because the truth of the matter is, it’s only through answering these questions that we as a society will get to a better place.

There are no words to express our sorrow to the families and the community affected by the tragedy in Newtown.

We can only hope that their healing will begin when the time is right.

In fact, unless you live in a yurt out in the middle of the woods where you hunt for your food, abstain from all media, and focus on growing a neck beard that you only occasionally trim with a dull bowie knife, it’s hard to be anything but cynical these days.

We’ve got fiscal cliffs and government gridlock.

We’ve got Honey Boo-Boo and the Kardashians.

We’ve got divisions between black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight, Christians and Muslims.

Hell, even the vegans and carnivores are pissed at each other these days, it seems.

And we’ve still got a shameful amount more war in this world than we do peace.

If, like a lot of us these days, you find yourself in desperate need of a reason to hope for something better, a reason to believe in the inherent good of your fellow man, a reason to cut away all the ugliness we see around us each and every day and get back to those things that connect us all to one another, here’s my simple advice:

Go see a Bruce Springsteen concert.

No, it’s not an especially cheap proposition, I realize, though it should be noted that a $100 dollar ticket will get you well within 20 rows of the Boss whereas getting that close to any other “major” rock artist, like the Rolling Stones for example, will cost you more than 8 times that amount.

And nothing against the Rolling Stones but they haven’t had a truly relevant or original musical thought in at least 30 years.

So is a Springsteen concert expensive?

Sure.

But in terms of return on investment, I’m not sure you can beat the Boss.

It’s not just the songs in Springsteen’s catalog, that staggeringly deep and broad collection of musical and cultural touch stones, impressive though they are.

It’s not just watching the impeccably precise E Street Band tear through their 4th decade on stage, continuing to move in note-perfect lock step with each other for 3 hours, though that also gets more impressive every year especially as popular music continues to drift into a technological art form driven by computer geeks and i-Mac nerds who’ve never touched an actual musical instrument in their lives.

And while there may be an element of nostalgia to a Springsteen show (how could there not be given all the personal connections between our lives and his music?) this is not, by any stretch of the imagination, an oldies tour or a chance for artist and band to cash another paycheck while vainly struggling to stay in the public spotlight.

Not by a long shot.

In its most powerful incarnation, and in its purest form, (something we see all too rarely these days) music is a promise.

It’s a solemn vow between artist and audience that says “I may be leading us on this journey, but wherever we go, we go together.”

Music is congregation. It’s redemption. It’s salvation.

Music is the best of everything we are but it never turns a blind eye to the worst of everything we are.

It tells a story about where we’ve been but it also tells a story about where we’re going.

Music is not a passive art form. It doesn’t hang on a wall in a gallery.

For it to actually matter, music demands that you interact with it. Become one with it. Welcome it into your heart and soul and reflect it back out into the world.

And whether you’re talking about 1972 or 2012 or any point in between, there is NO artist who has taken or continues to take that promise, that solemn vow, as seriously as Bruce Springsteen.

If you’ve seen him live, you already know this to be true.

And if you haven’t seen him live, this is why you must.

And at the risk of hyperbole, it’s still as true today, in the “elder statesman” phase of his rock career, as it was when Springsteen was the scruffy rat from the beaches of Jersey just fighting for a chance to make another album.

If there’s a trick to Springsteen’s longevity, to his “magic” as a live performer, it’s this: There IS no trick.

No smoke and mirrors.
No half-assed phoned in performances.
No creative stagnation.
No resting on laurels.

Springsteen shows are so absolutely captivating because he requires, demands actually, that the audience go on the journey with him.

And while he may have unbelievably high expectations for us, the audience, they pale in comparison to what he demands from himself and from his band.

How else could a single man with a microphone make a crowd of 20,000 silent enough to hear a pin-drop?

It’s just music, after all, right?

Just stage craft and spotlights and souvenir tee shirts, right?

Just a guy with a guitar and some songs he wrote, right?

Wrong.

This particular guy will be the first to tell you, he was saved by music.

It connected him to a world he felt separated from.

It gave him a purpose.

It gave him a voice.

It gave him hope, and divinity, and reconciliation plus equal doses of lust and mischief thrown in for good measure.

For more than 40 years as a performer, Bruce Springsteen has continued to be mindful of that gift. Supremely protective of it, in fact.

All he wants for us, the audience, is to be saved by music in the same way he was.

Tall order, right?

Not if you really and truly believe, it isn’t.

In a world where cynicism reigns supreme, belief can be hard to come by.

Unless of course, you’re at a Bruce Springsteen concert.

Every time I see a Springsteen show I walk away with this single thought in my head: “Wow. That guy believes. I mean, he really believes.”

I challenge you to see Bruce Springsteen perform live and not walk away feeling that exact same way.

Look, I know you're busy. Especially on a Monday. You like sports but you don't have all damn day to sit around digesting everything that happened in the last few days.

So, here's my gift to you- the 4 sentence sports update.

VP of football operations John Elway says he’s not panicking over the team’s 2-3 record but in order to give the Broncos the best chance to win he is petitioning the league to extend games to 5 quarters starting next week.

Saints QB Drew Brees breaks Johnny Unitas’s 50 yr old record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass while suspended Saints coach Sean Peyton looks on from a skybox at the Superdome. Wanna know the difference between me and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell? When I tell my kids they’re grounded, they actually STAY grounded.

Rockies manager Jim Tracy resigns rather than relinquish control to the team’s front office. If the front office thinks they’ve earned the right to MORE control based on their track record it’s official: the lunatics have now taken over the asylum.

Broncos lose a tough one in New England 31-21:- Related: Willis McGahee misses team flight after fumbling his boarding pass on the tarmac just 10 yards short of the plane door.

Here are 3 positive takeaways from last night's debacle that should help brighten your mood:

If you turn the ball over 4 times in a quarter and still have a chance to win the game…and end up losing by less than a touchdown that says something about your team. The score was only 10-0 at the end of 1st Quarter—the Broncos defense is better than most people think. Way better. That's a positive.

2. Demarius Thomas 8 rec- 78 yards and a touchdown- averaging almost 10 yards p catch…that touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone? Come on….you can’t defend that any better. That was CRAZY athletic skills! And that jump ball pass he pulled down in the 3rd quarter? And this while the defense KNOWS you're going to pass the ball?? DT is a monster and best of all, he's got heart and guts. As last night proved.

3. In looking back on this season, this will be the game that reminded the NFL that needed to get off their wallets and bring back the regular refs. Last night was a officiating disaster. Phantom penalties..missed calls…..the refs completely lost control of the game in the first 15 minutes. If this is Cleveland/Cincy- no one cares. If it's the Raiders v. Dolphins, no one cares. But this is a Monday Night matchup of two marquee teams. Last night was a debacle for the NFL. Mark my words- this will, either directly or indirectly, lend some urgency to the matter of bringing the regular refs back.

An aspiring comedian pretended to be a former supporter for President Barack Obama and appeared on the "Fox & Friends" morning show during a segment that suggested the unemployment rate for people 18-24 could cost Obama the youth vote.
But it was all a prank!"Fox & Friends" co-host Gretchen Carlson introduced Max Rice as a "recent college grad who voted for President Obama" and who "just moved out of his parents' home."
Rice interrupted Carlson's introduction, saying "S'up," and then told her, "Miss U.S.A., it's an honor." Carlson is a former Miss America winner. Things got worse from there.Rice said: "I was a huge Obama supporter in 2008. I met him in third grade. I met him when I was little."When asked why he is now supporting Mitt Romney, Rice claimed he lost a bet to a friend in a pickup basketball game.When Carlson asked Rice if he was being serious, he told her: "Yeah. I can't see your face right now. This is so weird."
Fox News is investigatingA statement from the network said: "We are still examining the situation, but it will be addressed with the appropriate parties involved."After the interview, Rice said: "They were just casting a part in a show. The first thing that shocked me is that they were that desperate to find someone that fit that category. What they were seeking is someone who voted for Obama in 2008, then somewhere in the last four years got disenfranchised and now is a huge Romney supporter. But I feel like anyone who fits that mold would also dis Romney at the same time. So, they just couldn't find anyone. They're in New York City, so they had to go find a kid in Chicago."

A reporter at a TV station in Denver made a little kid cry on live television.
The reporter was doing a live shot from the Fall Harvest Festival in Platteville, Colorado and went to point out a cute toddler in a stroller.
In the middle of the shot the boy started to cry uncontrollably.
The anchor then chimes in saying "Way to make a baby boy cry on live television. Way to go."

(Newser) – It sounds like science fiction, and it looks like something straight out of Star Wars, but a California-based company called Aerofex has produced an honest-to-goodness hover bike that can be flown without any training—and it's based on a 1960s design. Back then the vehicle, which is powered by two giant fans, was deemed too unstable and prone to rolling over, Innovation Daily News explains. Aerofex's novel solution: Add knee control bars, so the craft would respond to the pilot's instinctive balancing movements.
"Think of it as lowering the threshold of flight, down to the domain of ATVs," Aerofex's founder says. "Since the pilot's balancing movements are instinctive and constant, it plays out quite effortlessly to him." The bad news: Aerofex doesn't actually intend to mass-produce the device for manned use, so you're not going to get your hands on one. Instead, it's a test platform for an eventual unmanned drone version for military use.

MIke's Thoughts: Wow! Awesome! Congratulations to George Jetson and everyone over at Spacely Sprockets for a job well done!

CHICK-FIL-A'D: BULLY FIRED AFTER VIDEO GOES VIRALA man who videotaped himself getting free water at a Chick-Fil-A drive-thru just to berate the young woman serving him has been fired from his job.

Adam Smith is seen in his video admitting feeling happy condemning the Chick-Fil-A employee over CEO Dan Cathy's same-sex-marriage remarks. The video went viral, and citizen journalists tracked him down online and grabbed copies of his resume. His employer, Vante, released this statement:

Vante of Tucson, AZ Regrets Actions of Former CFO

The following is a statement from Vante: Vante regrets the unfortunate events that transpired yesterday in Tucson between our former CFO/Treasurer Adam Smith and an employee at Chick-fil-A. Effective immediately, Mr. Smith is no longer an employee of our company.

The actions of Mr. Smith do not reflect our corporate values in any manner. Vante is an equal opportunity company with a diverse workforce, which holds diverse opinions. We respect the right of our employees and all Americans to hold and express their personal opinions, however, we also expect our company officers to behave in a manner commensurate with their position and in a respectful fashion that conveys these values of civility with others.

We hope that the general population does not hold Mr. Smith's actions against Vante and its employees.

THE UMPIRE EJECTS THE BALL PARK'S "MUSIC GUY" FOR PLAYING "THREE BLIND MICE"The music stopped at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach this week after a minor league umpire ejected the intern who was in charge of stadium music.
His downfall: he played "Three Blind Mice" during the game.The Daytona Cubs manager was arguing a call at first base when he heard the home plate umpire scream, "You're out." The manager thought he was being kicked out of the game, but it was the music guy. Apparently the ump didn't appreciate his call being made fun of with a song.
The public address system at the stadium was shut down for the rest of the game.

(Premiere)The heroic actions of a New York City bus driver have gone viral after an amateur videographer caught him catching a seven-year-old girl who fell three stories into his arms.

Steven St. Bernard was walking home from work when he heard some yelling and spotted the girl standing on an air conditioning unit outside of a Brooklyn apartment building.

After she was caught by St. Bernard, the girl was taken to a Coney Island hospital to be treated for minor injuries. St. Bernard suffered a torn tendon in his shoulder while making the heroic catch and is now wearing his arm in a sling. According to neighbors, the girl has special needs and police didn’t file charges against her parents.

Bruce Springsteen played the big rock n' roll card at London's Hyde Park Saturday night, bringing music legend Paul McCartney to the stage to join him and the band for versions of Beatle classics "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Twist and Shout".

Unfortunately for the 60,000 fans there, Hyde Park has a very serious noise curfew ordinance which "required" concert organizers to literally pull the plug on the show in the middle of "Twist and Shout".

Noise ordinance or no, who in their right mind pulls the plug on the Boss and Macca?

(Newser) – A blindfolded Chinese acrobat attempting to walk backwards on a tightrope for 2,300 feet across a 650-feet-deep gorge with no safety harness fell just short of his goal—and survived with just minor injuries, reports the Telegraph. The tightrope walker, Aisikaier, fell when he was only 130 feel short of his goal, but apparently dropped into some trees and bushes on the side of the slope, which helped to break his fall. He can be seen walking out of the ravine on the video afterward. The acrobat, a sixth-generation performer from the Uighur Dawa Zi tradition, later said that strong winds had made him dizzy.

Introducing Squeez Bacon: A real, actual product that consists of partially reconstituted bacon made into an easy-to-spread paste.
Developed in Sweden after World War II by a particularly creative chef looking for a new way to process bacon, Squeez Bacon is now available in the U.S.
According to its advertising, "Vilhelm Lillefläsk's Squeez Bacon® is fully cooked 100% bacon. Due to the patented electro-mechanical process by which Squeez Bacon® is rendered, it requires no preservatives or other additives. Each serving is as healthy as real bacon, and equivalent to 4 premium slices of bacon!" Slop some on a burger or use it to flavor your lemonade, no big deal.

Mike's Thoughts: Anyone else amazed that Squeez Bacon was invented in Sweden? Seems like that should have been an American invention, doesn't it?

Lawrence Yong of Los Angeles made it on to the University of Michigan waitlist for the fall semester but decided to take a gamble and present this video of him singing an acapella version of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" to try and gain admission.

The crazy part?

It worked?

Yong will be touring as the 5th member of the Jackson 5 during his fall break from University of Michigan.

(Newser) – An apparent act of vigilante justice is going viral on YouTube and sparking a debate over the proper punishment for statutory rape, Huffington Post reports. In the video, a supposed dad spanks the adult boyfriend of his young daughter for having had sex with her. "You got lucky, James," the dad says. "You could have had rape charges or an ass-kicking." Being spanked, the victim cries, "Enough dude! I ain't even gonna be able to sit, dude!" Says the dad: "Well, that's what Chelsea got." Some YouTube commenters say the punishment was just, while others argue the father should still go to police.

Mike's Thoughts: Of all the weird stories I've seen lately, this might be the weirdest.

My understanding (and I'm no attorney but) of the term "statutory rape" is that it's defined as sex with a person under the age of 18 by a person over the age of 18. It can (but doesn't necessarily HAVE to) mean that the sex wasn't consensual.

At this point, the story doesn't really say whether it was consensual or not. That would seem to be somewhat important, right?

And who in the hell considers spanking a grown man adequate punishment for anything?

Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis have officially called it quits. The couple made the announcement through a release from Depp's publicist today (Tuesday), saying that they "have amicably separated," and requesting that people "respect their privacy and, more importantly, the privacy of their children." Depp and Paradis had been together since 1998 and have two children, but had been living apart since January.

Mike's Thoughts: According to sources, it was Vanessa Paradis who was largely behind the separation. Apparently she finally got tired of Johnny stealing her mascara. And like the rest of the world, she also wasn't able to forgive Depp for appearing in the box office disaster "The Tourist" with Angelina Jolie.

(Newser) – A former airport security guard and target of an aggressive pat down at a Florida airport has been busted for groping a TSA manager as she demonstrated how not to search a passenger. The arrested woman, who was flying from Southwest Florida International Airport to her brother's funeral in Ohio, complained about "intrusive touching of her genitals and breasts" by a TSA agent, said her attorney. Carol Price, 59, complained to the guard's supervisor—her own former boss when she worked at the same airport—then grabbed the supervisor's crotch to demonstrate what had just happened to her, reports ABC News. Price was charged with misdemeanor battery.
According to the police report, Price "did intentionally and without consent grab the victim and slide her hands into the crotch area" of her former boss. "She doesn't feel like she's done anything wrong, and I agree with her," said Price's attorney. "We hope to get a not guilty verdict and have her named cleared. She did not touch the supervisor as intrusively as she was touched." The initial pat down, the TSA insists, was conducted "correctly in accordance with our procedures," the agency said in a statement to WZVN-TV.

The West Liberty-Salem (West Liberty, Ohio) athletic director said he had spent the entire day taking messages for the school's girls track and field coach Ann Vogel, mother of new national celebrity Meghan Vogel.

He wasn't complaining.

If you haven't heard or seen by now – it's gone ultra viral for good reason – junior Meghan Vogel picked up a fallen and weary 3,200-meter runner and dragged her across the finish line in Saturday's Ohio Division III state championship at Ohio State University.

(Newser) – A video of a 4-year-old boy singing "Ain’t no homo gonna make it to heaven" in front of his cheering Indiana church has gone viral—and now the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle Church is dealing with some unpleasant fallout, reports the New York Daily News. The church has been barraged by nasty phone calls and even death threats. In response, the church says it is on "lockdown," with members guarding the building around the clock, and pastor Jeff Sangl and his wife took off suddenly on vacation yesterday without telling anyone where they were going.
“Of course we applauded a child who is singing a song about God,” one member of the congregation tells TMZ."If we don’t teach the children the truth early they will never learn." The original lyrics of the song, by the late leader of America's largest black Pentecostal church, condemned drinking and adultery with verses like "You can't make it to heaven with a sweetheart and a wife," notes the Daily Mail.

Mike's Thoughts: Nothing says "I love God" like a song about hating gays, does it?

(Newser) – A woman missed an American Airlines connecting flight because she was wearing a pro-choice T-shirt with an obscenity about what she might do to a senator. The captain of a flight the woman was exiting scolded her over the shirt that read: “If I wanted the government in my womb, I’d f--- a senator,” and said she would have to change before boarding her next flight. “This conversation led to me missing my connecting flight," the passenger told RH Reality Check. Her abortion stand had nothing to do with the captain's response, according to an American Airlines spokesman. “The only reason she was asked to cover up her T-shirt was the appearance of the F-word on the T-shirt," he explained. "The outcome would have been exactly the same had the message been anti-abortion.”
American's "contract of carriage" states that the airline can bounce passengers if they're "clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offense to others"—though that's widely open to interpretation. "The irony is that she went through several layers of personnel and was allowed to fly," one attorney told MSNBC. But another travel attorney points out that it's ultimately up to the captain. "If he thinks other passengers may get upset, it becomes a safety issue," he added. The woman boarded a later flight, wearing a shawl to cover the shirt.

Mike's Thoughts; I don't have any problem with the message itself or a person's right to offer up the message, but I do think her choice of delivery was questionable at best.

We talk alot about Free Speech in this country (and rightfully so) but people forget that not all speech is protected under the 1st Amendment.

And like it or not, using the F-Bomb in your political slogan doesn't make you seem smart and informed. It makes you seem like an idiot with an axe to grind.

It's the world's biggest non-problem problem: getting ketchup out of the bottle.
But, engineers at MIT have fixed it. They designed the perfect bottle and ketchup cannot stick to it.The secret is in a substance known as "LiquiGlide," a non-toxic, FDA-approved coating that can be applied to the interior of bottles. Regardless of what the bottle is constructed of, liquid or plastic, ketchup will flow out of it effortlessly.

Mike's Thoughts: I for one sleep much better at night knowing that America's best and brightest minds are hard at work on.....condiments.

Maybe next they can tackle that issue where the mustard settles in the container and your first squirt results in "mustard water" rather than actual mustard.

Tim Tebow was snapped backstage with four female cast members from the Broadway hit musical "Rock Ages".
The problem was, the four women were dressed in stripper costumes. Oops.When one of the ladies posted the pic to her Twitter page, Tim reportedly freaked out and demanded that it be removed."Rock Ages" cast member Neka Zang tweeted:"Well, Due to Tebow's 'image' I was asked to remove the pic of him with us half-dressed ladies. He does know we aren't real strippers, right? Tweeps. I'm not mad, or judging. Just letting u all know I took the pic down. Ok. Thanks."
So far, there's been no word about the picture from Tebow or his reps.

Mike's Thoughts: This whole thing just seems silly to me. It's not like Tebow was caught in a picture knocking back shots of tequila while getting a lap dance at a strip club.

These women are ACTORS. And they're in COSTUME.

The picture is no big deal even for a guy with Tim Tebow's moral high road approach to life.

By asking to have it removed he's making it a bigger deal than it really is.

(Newser) – A North Carolina aquarium scientist planned to move an alligator from the side of a highway—but the gator had different ideas. As the scientist dropped a towel over the alligator's face and attempted to lift the eight-foot creature with his bare hands, the gator spun around, tripped the man and bit his arm while shaking its head violently. The scientist managed to struggle free from the giant jaws, kick out at the gator, and make his escape. The gator was later captured by a crew and moved to a swamp some 30 miles away, reports the BBC. The scientist was treated and released from a local hospital.

Mike's Thoughts: "I KNEW Crocodile Dundee. And you sir, are NO Crocodile Dundee!"

(Newser) – Apparently when Chuck’s Place advertises an all-you-can-eat fish fry, it doesn’t literally mean all you can eat, as Bill Wisth discovered to his dismay Friday. The Wisconsin restaurant refused to give him any more fish after he ate 12 pieces, and eventually sent him off with eight additional pieces. Not satisfied, Wisth called the police, then returned two days later with a picket sign and says he plans to picket every Sunday until the restaurant revises its policy.

But the restaurant says it was running out of fish and that 53-year-old Wisth (who is 6'6", 350 pounds, and admits he can eat a lot) has been a problem before—he allegedly has a tab there that still isn’t paid off, a waitress tells TMJ4. Police gave him a warning for disorderly conduct while he was picketing, reports Mequon Now. According to the police report, he had initially refused to pay his bill, but paid after being given the additional fish.

Mike's Thoughts: I'm all for consumer protection, but if you really need to eat more than 12 pieces of fish in one sitting I'd offer there are bigger issues at play here.

Norman the very smart Briard dog knows how to ride a bike.
With the help of his mom Karen Cobb, Norman has recently mastered riding his special blue, personalised bike outside his home in South Carolina.

Mike's Thoughts: Honestly, not all that impressed. If the dog could teach kids how to ride a bike then THAT would be something.

People magazine will reportedly pay the star $800,000 to publish exclusive photos of baby Maxwell Drew Johnson. Jess, who gained at least 40 pounds during her pregnancy, has also reportedly signed a $3 million dollar deal to promote Weight Watchers.
By comparison, Jessica's deal with People is a far cry from the $6 million the publication reportedly paid Jennifer Lopez for photos of her twins in 2008.

Mike's Thoughts: So, let's see- Jessica Simpson made 3.8 Million off a brand new baby who hasn't done a damn thing yet.

ZZ Top have posted a portion of their first new single in nine years on their website. They cut a commercial for Jeremiah Weed bourbon, which features them playing the song, "I Got to Get Paid," inside a refrigerator in a liquor store. No word yet on when the album, their first since 2003's Mescalero, will be released. It's being produced by Rick Rubin. (premiere prep)

Looks like the Buffalo Bills are open to signing viral video stars. Monmouth College quarterback Alex Tanney put a trick-shot video on YouTube that shows his doing some incredible stunts with a football.
Since the video went viral, several NFL teams asked him to compete in their rookie minicamps this month, and he accepted the invitation from the Bills.
NFL teams aren't just calling him because he's a trick-shot guy; he does have some pretty impressive stats… like the 14,429 yards he passed for at Monmouth gave him the all-time Division III record, and his 157 touchdown passes is the all-time NCAA mark.

Bruce Springsteen brought the first leg of his Wrecking Ball tour to a close last night with his first-ever show at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. And it was worth the wait as he turned in a three-hour show, complete with three tour premieres, including "Bishop Danced," released on his Tracks collection in 1998 and last played on March 2nd, 1973 in Berkeley, California. Springsteen said since it was the first time he was playing the Prudential Center he might as well play something for the first time, or in this case, a very long time.
Another premiere was "Hard to Be a Saint in the City," but the other was the highlight of the night. He spotted a sign that read, "Do one for Levon," meaning Levon Helm, the drummer and singer inThe Band who died of cancer last month at the age of 71. Calling him "Levin" [pr: Lev-in], Springsteen said he was "one of the greatest, greatest voices in country, rockabilly and rock and roll. Staggering, while playing the drums... Both his voice and his drumming were so incredibly versatile... You can't replicate it." He then broke into an acoustic version of "The Weight" before the E Street Band found their place and joined in.

Ashton Kutcher will return for another season of Two and a Half Men. Co-stars Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones will also be back. Deadline.com says Ashton will earn about $700,000 per episode.

Mike's Thoughts: Further proof that when it comes to career choices for your children, it's best to encourage them to be really good looking and, if possible, to marry Demi Moore. Seems like that guarantees interest and income even in the notable absence of any measurable talent.